Since there have been a lot of questions lately about Shiba play style and 'is this too rough'. Sunyata came up with the idea of posting a thread with some videos of Shibas at play. If we could get some members to post videos of Shiba play in one spot, it might help alleviate some new owners' worries.

thanks for sharing those videos, enlightening!my shibas play rough, lots of strange sounds. It has scared one or two dog owners and now I afraid of my dogs meeting another non shiba dog because I don't want them labelled as aggressive.Does anyone have a good way of explaining to other non shiba owners that these are the sounds they make and this is play?

Do most people avoid other dogs or do you let them play and then attempt to reassure the other dog owner?I really wish my dogs had the chance to be social with other dogs without freaking people out

I just got back from the same park again today and Lucy started playing with another beagle mix this same way. The owner was very scared, but luckily her husband was there to tell her it was ok, they were just playing. Usually I'll explain that she always plays this way and if one of the dogs didn't like it they'd make an "ouch" sound or try to get away. I run into the owners of large breeds being concerned their dog will hurt lucy more often. I just let them know that Lucy will let the other dog, or me know when it's getting too much.

The biggest issue is that Shiba's show their teeth so much while they play. You just have to read the other person. 9 times out of 10 after watching them "fight" for a few minutes they become much more relaxed. If their body language is still really tight, I'll call Lucy off (thankfully she has really good recall) and we'll continue on the trail.

Sadly, I have very few videos of Bowdu at play. Our socially awkward guy never really figured it out, and still seldom finds partners well-matched on his own terms. His main thing is that he is *very* vocal and nippy, as this video demonstrates.

So the couple things I would point out here -- the Samoyed doesn't seem particularly comfortable with Bowdu's rowdiness, but Bowdu does pause and step back at points. He gets a little agitated when the third dog (Bull Terrier) tries to get in on the action, and barks at them. He has always preferred one-on-one play, the few times he's engaged. I wonder if other Shibas are like that? And finally, the Samoyed seems to be giving pretty clear signals that she's had enough at the end. She runs away, but Bowdu pursues. That is the point at which I intervened, because then it just seems like Bowdu is harassing someone else's dog who doesn't want to play.

The Samoyed's momma is off in another corner of the park. They had previously played well together before, and the other dog's owner was comfortable with the amount of noise that Bowdu makes. I usually address the other dog's owner directly: "My dog is very vocal when he plays -- is that okay?" And then proceed from how the other dog owner feels about it. Most of the time they've been very understanding, though the onus is still on me to keep my dog under threshold.

nice, this was pretty much exactly how Miko's play date wtih a friends older black lab went. We were both fine with it, but the wife was very stressed by it all, thinking someone would get hurt. She didn't quite see how the bigger dog was being VERY gentle with Miko and would only take it up a notch to let her know she'd gotten a little too rough.

Haha this is an example of the noises we here come from our two all day, he sounds like a monkey and she sounds like a demon:

It made it tough going to the dog park with Dexter. All he ever wants is for someone to chase him, so he will instigate something to make other dogs chase him around. Which is why he loves Honey so much now....(the noises in this one are all HER):

@Fawkes702: I would remove him from her to let him calm down. Zim started humping one of his toys and we weren't big fans so we just started removing the toy when he did it (we played with him with other toys even immediately after removal since that was the only one he humped). He has since stopped humping that toy and I've never seen it otherwise.

Shiba play injuries anyone? So my new shiba had some hair missing at the tips of his ears, and my older shiba had this bald spot near her face from a hard bite. I took the new shiba to the vet because i thought maybe there were skin problems, but turns out it was from trauma. Meaning, too much harsh play. They are better now, but that first week they were playing REAL rough...

guess i have to add my picture to the existing thread as i was rebuked for posting this picture as a stand-alone.. (i still think it is worthy) =) the play amuses the heck out of me but others seem to think it is a Shiba attack.. =( and the slightly less dramatic..

Yea my dog looks exactly like all those pictures but it scares the crap out of me sometimes! She never growls or barks when she's playing but if she yips I usually pull her away because she so rarely does. I have a question though...a lot of times when she's playing the hair on her back will stand up which worries me. Is that a problem?

My shiba inu will rough house all day long at home but they never rough play with other dogs in the dog park or anywhere...But when Saku and Mina play like that in the dog park, other dog owners do look scared and concerned. I just say they have a complicated love and hate relationship.

Thank you so much for posting these! It is good to see these things before getting a new dog (of any breed) so you can be 100% aware of the way your dog may act and prepare yourself and others you may be with of how to react if they doggie gets a little rough.

@nicole_a my boy dog does that when he's playing outside. he doesn't do it when he's at home, my guy and i call it his playhawk or when he's being super alert on our walks at night, he has his 'hawk on. our girl dog doesn't ever get the 'hawk. i don't know why he has it, but i don't think it's a bad thing.

@saku TOTALLY! my shibas play crazy like that too, and my boy dog looks absolutely terrifying, (his ugly, snarly, "war" face) and people always comment when they play together like that. only with each other, or other shibas do they act that way. around other dogs they don't go in crazy shiba play mode, they are much more gentle and calm. doing the chase and bumping. i wonder if they know not to play with other dogs like that, i certainly didn't teach them that way. other than a few scoldings.

@bobc33 - Just saw the video of your dogs playing with Leelou and I just had to comment - MY dog's name is Leelu (pronounced the same way I would assume). Do you happen to know where they got that name?

Shinta doesn't play much, but then again his shiba style is different from most dogs :-D. On an interesting note, at the dog park his favorite activity is wait for a dog to seem to start running towards him (the dog usually isn't actually going to him), then he stalks them, lays in the dirt, and if they DO manage to get close to him, he goes up and vocalizes in their face. For the other dog's part, they usually just look confused and go back to doing what they were doing lol. So he's a dog stalker. BUT every once in a great while he'll find a friend to wrestle, tell off, or chase around :-)

On that note, my parents got a lab puppy, and they've been known to play a little:

All of these pictures are awesome! I love to see play pics. Although to someone who doesn't know how Shiba's play...these pics can be scary...LOLZach plays the same way...although he definately alters how he is playing depending on his playmate. He plays hard with bigger dogs but there are a few little dogs (maltese and terriers) in my apartment complex and Zach is gentle with them. He never gets rough.

Yikes..is this how rough they play? I doubt I would be able to differentiate the rough play from a real fight.

I have brought my little 2 months old to my parents place. They have 4 dogs there, A Poodle (male, 3 yrs old), A Spitz mix (female, 3.5 yrs old), an American Cocker Spaniel (male, 2 years old) and a Golden retriever (Male, 8 years old).

She seems terrified of the Golden Retriever, the American Cocker is terrified of her. The other just ok. I sniff your butt and I sniff yours. No fights or play have started yet but I presume something will when she is older.

So long as no "I'm hurt" squeals come out, and so long as there doesn't seem to be one dog desperately wanting to get away from the other, it should be fine. Shinta is a big bluffer, lots of noise and teeth showing, but if I put my hand in between them, his mouth hits me, but there's no teeth coming down. He's VERY careful with the puppy, and she gives as good as she gets, making noise and showing teeth, but she initiates it with putting her mouth on his leg, rump, or tail, but she's not biting down either, or he'd yip. So it's a game of understanding :-) They also wait while the other is drinking or grooming.

Now on the other hand, if Shinta postures and bluffs at the wrong dog, he's been known to have his bluff called and has been known to yip and run away himself. So when they do start to play, just see how each dog responds to the play. If they seem too rough, separate them and feel them over to see how they are. Neither Kaylee or Shinta come away even damp, so there is no mouthing even :-)

So, recently I've been noticing that Sagan's play-styles are becoming more "aggressive." Like... to the point where I have to take him away after playing for five minutes to calm down, according to my trainer.

Sagan is very, very mouthy (common within Shiba's, I know) and often grabs others ears, cheeks, and chest. He's very alpha-like when he plays, so he's always on top of others (at least those his size or smaller). If he's unable to get on top of them due to size, he actually becomes more mouthy and continues to nip and/or grab onto the other pup's cheek or ear until they eventually lay down in submission or I call him off. Unfortunately, they're not yelping or showing any signs of distress, but it seems my trainer does not like this. We do kind of a 15-minute puppy play section at the end of class every week, and no matter the puppy, Sagan is still rough -- they don't seem to appreciate it.

What am I supposed to do if this is just how he plays with every dog? Sagan is 3.5-months-old, so he's still young, but I want to make sure that this doesn't carry into adulthood and I'm having to take him away every five minutes when he's trying to play with someone else because he's way too rough.

Is this just a breed thing? I'm going to email my trainer later to see if she has any insight to this, but I wanted to see what you guys had to say, also.

Thank you to those who posted videos. It is very helpful to new "parents". My Shiba gets to play with her sister, both pups, and they go at it. I'm not sure how she would be with other dogs, but the sounds, cries, and screams they make is a bit alarming. Why do they go for the inner portion of the mouth? That's when I hear the loudest screams from one or the other.

We've been dog-sitting another Shiba Inu over the weekend, and this is how they've been playing. They've been pretty good at telling each other when to stop, when to take a water break, and when to start the next round.